Ruling with Knowledge vs. Ruling with Laws: The Role of Law in Plato's Best City in the Statesman

Unlike the view that there is no need for law in Plato's best city, or the view that law is a useful tool in the city, this article argues that law is a necessary tool not only in cities without genuine statesmen but also in the best city ruled by the statesmen. Law is necessary even in the best city because it is the mechanism that delivers the statesmen's knowledge to the ordinary citizens' lives. The law in the best city has a peculiar status as a necessary but inferior tool to political expertise, and the best city is law-possessing, law-abiding by default, and sometimes law-overruling.